

The Smart Communications Podcast
Big Duck
The Smart Communications Podcast helps busy nonprofit leaders build their communications skills and develop their organization’s voice. Every episode shares insights and practical tips to help you leverage strategic communications to advance your nonprofit’s mission.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 16, 2021 • 26min
Episode 102: How can you create a healthy workplace in remote settings?
How can your organization prioritize wellness and productivity? Farra Trompter, co-director, talks with Meico Marquette Whitlock, founder and CEO of Mindful Techie, in this episode packed with ways to add a more mindful approach to your work-life and tech-life balance.

Dec 1, 2021 • 23min
Episode 101: How do you know when your nonprofit has a jargon problem–and what can you do about it?
Jargon is common in the nonprofit sector. For some it can communicate knowledge, but for most people, using jargon, acronyms, and complicated phrases can be alienating.. Big Duck’s founder and board member, Sarah Durham chats with Bill Furmanski, senior director of communications at the Fair Labor Association about de-jargoning the messaging in your organization and how to make sure your audiences can understand who you are in plain language.

Nov 17, 2021 • 38min
Episode 100: How can nonprofits apply the principles of Emergent Strategy to their communications?
Never a failure, always a lesson. Trust the people. Move at the speed of trust. These are just a few principles of Emergent Strategy by adrienne mareee brown. Hannah Thomas, director of learning and innovation, and Priscilla Hung, co-director of Move to End Violence, discuss being adaptive, thinking with abundance, and centering your purpose.

Nov 3, 2021 • 22min
Episode 99: Who should be on your communications team?
Sarah Durham, Big Duck’s founder, and Kivi Leroux Miller, founder and CEO of the Nonprofit Marketing Guide, share tips that will help any nonprofit strengthen their communications team and improve its capacity to succeed.

Oct 20, 2021 • 16min
Episode 98: How can you build inclusive processes in branding and beyond?
At this moment, it’s important to slow down and create more inclusive teams and processes. Join Farra Trompeter and Dr. Renee Rubin Ross as they discuss participation and equity and share tips on how to make branding more inclusive.

Oct 8, 2021 • 27min
Episode 97: How nonprofit communications have changed over the years
Nonprofit staff have become more sophisticated in prioritizing the goals, audiences, strategies, and tactics to guide their communications. Listen in as Sarah Durham and Farra Trompeter talk about the changes in communication approaches and activities and the importance of communications in the nonprofit sector.

Sep 23, 2021 • 19min
Episode 96: How can you use donor personas to guide your communications?
How can you use donor personas to guide your communications? At Big Duck, we define personas as tools that define a segment of your audience, who they are in connection to your work, what they care about, how to best reach them, where to find them, and more. Farra Trompeter chats with Mica Bevington, US director of communications and development at Humanity and Inclusion about how their team defines personas.

Sep 8, 2021 • 18min
Episode 95: Equity: How can we design organizations where everyone thrives?
Equity helps leaders create more inclusive organizations using human-centered design and behavior change principles. Farra Trompeter talks with Minal Bopaiah, founder of Brevity & Wit and author of “Equity: How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives” about her passion for equity and why it is critical for nonprofit organizations.

Aug 26, 2021 • 21min
Episode 94: How can you update an iconic brand?
A classic brand identity is hard to change. Old perceptions about your organization’s brand or internal shifts can be challenging. Listen in as Sarah Durham talks with Mark Graham, chief marketing & communications officer at American Friends Service Committee about AFSC’s distinctive brand and the organization’s journey to evolve its iconic identity.

Aug 11, 2021 • 24min
Episode 93: What can a good tagline do for your nonprofit?
Ever wondered what a good tagline can do for your organization? In this episode of the Smart Communications Podcast, Farra Trompeter, partner and chief growth officer, discusses taglines, brand strategy, engaging community in your brand, social justice, and more with Chandra M. Hayslett, communications director, from the Center for Constitutional Rights and Ambar Mentor-Truppa, vice president of communications, from the Shriver Center on Poverty Law.